Musicians on a budget and on the go should check out the Sennheiser IE 100 Pro in-ear monitors.
Keep the beat, and some cash, with the Sennheiser IE 100 Pro, a great bang-for-the-buck in-ear monitor.You’ve seen it before. A singer on stage sticks a finger in their ear ahead of some insane vocal gymnastics that tumble through pitches normally reserved for sirens and fancy birds. The reason that digit is now plugging up an earhole is that live shows are loud, chaotic soundscapes and if a singer is to stay on key, they need to be able to hear the sounds coming out of their mouth.
In-ear monitors need to accomplish four things well in order to be even considered for live performance: produce quality sound, reduce external noise, be comfortable, and stay in the ear regardless of on-stage antics. Out of the box, the Sennheiser IE 100 Pro slid easily into my ears and stayed put thanks to the eartips and the attached malleable plastic hooks routed over the top of my ears. So, fit was not an issue.
A benefit of having both wired and wireless cables is that Bluetooth headphones and earbuds are nearly worthless for music creation on a computer. The wireless latency makes adding additional live instruments to a track impossible because you’re almost always about a sixteenth of a beat off. Beyond that, even the best Bluetooth connection introduces compression to the sound, which is not something you want when hitting the right note is imperative.
As a commuter companion, however, the IE 100 Pro will block out the cacophony of public transportation sound while your phone sits securely in your pocket thanks to the snug fit and Bluetooth audio. Plus there’s multipoint support, in case you’re going to want to listen to tracks from two sources and don’t want to fiddle with settings over and over.Roberto Baldwin